Ants

Category archives for Ants

Ectatomma edentatum, Argentina Equipment details: Canon EOS 20D, using an MP-E 65mm 1-5x lens (at 5x), lit with an MT-24EX twin flash diffused through tracing paper. Several years ago, before I became serious about photography, I shot the same species in Paraguay with a little Nikon Coolpix 995. Here’s the result:

An Amblyopone oregonensis huntress delivers a paralyzing dose of venom to a centipede. This lets the ant larvae consume it alive later, at their leisure. Ow. Ow, Ow. Yes, that is the stinger you see, sunk deep into the head.

Fire ants aren’t the only formicids that have to worry about parasitoid phorid flies. Many species are hosts to this diverse fly family. Below are a pair of photos I took recently near Jujuy, Argentina showing a trio of an unidentified Pseudacteon species hovering over an ant nest. One of the flies hit her target,…

With 12,000 described species, ants dominate global terrestrial ecosystems. Here are a few of them. Name: Nothomyrmecia macrops Distribution: Australia Famous for: The story of its rediscovery (As told by Bill Bryson- scroll down)